Device, system, and method for determining the status of lanes

ABSTRACT

Customers would like to minimize the time waiting in lines; however, it is often difficult to understand which lane to choose. The present invention embraces a device, system, and method to help customers understand which lanes are open and operating most efficiently. The invention utilizes Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) transmitters located at each lane to transmit updated information related to (i) the lane&#39;s status (e.g., open or in-use) and (ii) the lane&#39;s quality (e.g., throughput efficiency). Portable electronic devices used by customers may receive the BLE signals and understand (e.g., using augmented reality) which lane would be most likely to provide a quick process.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/628,708 for a Device, System, and Method for Determining the Status of Checkout Lanes filed Feb. 23, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,390,596. Each of the foregoing patent application and patent is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to point of sale systems and, more specifically, to a system or device that broadcasts the real-time status of a lane or lanes.

BACKGROUND

In a retail store, a customer must wait in lines to have their items scanned or otherwise tallied to transact the resulting purchase (i.e., checkout). Often a store will have many checkout lanes to expedite this process. Unfortunately, checkout lanes are almost never fully staffed and some lanes seem to move faster than others do. Customers may search for an open lane by roaming around the checkout area creating extra traffic. When multiple open lanes are found, a customer must rely on instinct to choose a lane. A need therefore exists for a device, system, and method to provide customers with situational awareness about the checkout lanes to help them choose a checkout lane.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, in one aspect, the present invention embraces a portable electronic device (PED). The PED includes a camera for gathering video images of a checkout area that has multiple checkout lanes. The PED also includes a graphical user interface (GUI) that is configured to function as a viewfinder. The viewfinder captures video images of the checkout area in real-time. The PED further includes a wireless interface for receiving Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) messages from BLE devices located at each checkout lane. A processor functioning as part of the PED is configured by a software application to process the BLE message to obtain a checkout lane message for each checkout lane. The processor also generates an augmented reality view on the GUI that includes the checkout lane messages overlaid on the video images of the checkout area.

In an exemplary embodiment of the PED, the checkout lane message for a particular checkout lane is positioned in the video images of the checkout area over the particular checkout lane.

In another exemplary embodiment, the portable electronic device (PED) is a smartphone, while in another it is a pair of smart glasses.

In another exemplary embodiment of the PED, the checkout lane message for a particular checkout lane includes a quality rating for the particular checkout lane

In another exemplary embodiment of the PED, the checkout lane message for a particular checkout lane includes a real-time status for the particular checkout lane. The status may be one of the following states: closed, in-use, or open.

In another exemplary embodiment of the PED, the checkout lane message for a particular checkout lane includes the checkout lane's position derived from the signal strength of the BLE message transmitted from the checkout lane's BLE device.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the PED, the BLE devices are barcode scanners.

In another aspect, the present invention embraces a method for broadcasting periodically updated checkout lane messages. The method begins with the step of recording, for a time-period, the activity of a Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) enabled barcode scanner located at a checkout lane. The BLE enabled barcode scanner is assigned a checkout lane identifier linking the BLE enabled barcode scanner to the checkout lane. Next, a checkout lane status is updated using the recorded activity. Then, using the checkout lane identifier and the checkout lane status, a checkout lane message is created and broadcast using the BLE enabled barcode scanner. A new time-period is then started and the previous steps are repeated.

In an exemplary embodiment of the method, the checkout lane status includes a cashier efficiency rating.

In another exemplary embodiment of the method, the checkout lane status includes an indication of whether the checkout lane is (i) open and idle, (ii) open and in-use, or (iii) closed.

In another aspect, the present invention embraces a checkout system for a checkout lane. The checkout system includes a barcode scanning module for scanning barcodes as part of a checkout process. The checkout system also includes a Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) module configured to repeatedly broadcast BLE messages to other BLE enabled devices. The checkout system further includes a processor communicatively coupled to the barcode scanning module and to the BLE module. The processor is configured by software to received signals from the barcode scanning module and/or activity sensors. From these received signals, a checkout lane message is created. The processor sends the checkout lane messages to the BLE module for broadcasting as BLE messages.

In an exemplary embodiment of the checkout system, the checkout lane messages include information to indicate whether the checkout lane is closed, in-use or open.

In another exemplary embodiment of the checkout system, the checkout lane messages include an efficiency rating for the checkout lane.

In another exemplary embodiment of the checkout system, the checkout system is a handheld barcode scanner. In one possible embodiment of the handheld barcode scanner, the activity sensors include a trigger-switch sensor. In another possible embodiment of the handheld barcode scanner, the activity sensors include a scanner-base sensor to indicate that the handheld barcode scanner is on a scanner base. In still another possible embodiment of the handheld barcode scanner, the activity sensors include an accelerometer.

In yet another exemplary embodiment of the checkout system, the received signals include a time between barcode scans.

In still another exemplary embodiment of the checkout system, the BLE module includes a scanner base.

The foregoing illustrative summary, as well as other exemplary objectives and/or advantages of the invention, and the manner in which the same are accomplished, are further explained within the following detailed description and its accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 graphically depicts a timeline view of a data exchange between a Bluetooth-low-energy server and a Bluetooth-low-energy client according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 graphically depicts a perspective view of a checkout and checkout lane messages according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 graphically depicts a perspective view of a portable electronic device configured for augmented reality according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a flowchart of a method for broadcasting periodically updated checkout lane messages according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 graphically depicts a perspective view of a checkout system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 schematically depicts a block diagram of a checkout system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention embraces systems and methods for understanding timely information about a checkout area (i.e., situational awareness). Specifically, the present invention embraces an apparatus (i.e., portable electronic device), a method, and system (i.e., checkout system) to assist a customer in choosing a checkout lane from a plurality of checkout lanes in a checkout area.

The apparatus, method, and system may assist a customer in this regard by making available information corresponding to each checkout lane. For example, the status of a checkout lane, including information regarding the lane's availability (e.g., closed, in-use, or open), may be made widely available. In addition, information regarding the lane's quality may be made available. Here, a lane's quality may be determined and conveyed through a quality rating. This quality rating typically corresponds to the efficiency at which customer's goods are processed (e.g., cashier efficiency). In this regard, scan rates may be tabulated over some adjustable time-period and updated periodically.

The information is made available by broadcasting checkout lane messages for each checkout lane. The messages are broadcast using Bluetooth-low-Energy (BLE) modules (i.e., servers, beacons, transmitters, etc.) that are logically connected to a checkout lane via some checkout lane identifier. The checkout lane identifier is also included in the checkout lane message in order to allow the message's data to be correlated with a lane.

BLE modules may be discreet components communicatively coupled (e.g., wired or wireless) to a checkout subsystem (e.g., barcode scanner) but are typically integrated (i.e., embedded) within a barcode scanner or a barcode scanner's base.

Bluetooth-low-energy (i.e., BLUETOOTH® smart) is a wireless communication technology that typically uses small low powered button-like modules to broadcast their identity plus (in some cases) a short message to other BLE enabled devices. BLE communication is much like server/client communication.

FIG. 1 illustrates a possible BLE communication embodiment 1. Here, a BLE enabled point of sale device (e.g., a BLE enabled scanner) typically performs the role of the server, while another BLE enabled device (e.g., a smartphone, smart glasses, tablet, laptop, etc.) acts as the BLE client. The BLE server 2 may broadcast an advertising data packet 6 at a regular advertising interval 4 (e.g., once per second). This advertising packet 6 includes a data payload (i.e., BLE message) that contains information such as a checkout lane identifier and a checkout lane message. The checkout lane message may include the open/in-use status of the lane and the efficiency/throughput for the lane.

The advertising packet 6 is small (e.g., 31 bytes) but if more data is needed, then in some embodiments (e.g., connected topology), a scan-response request 8 could be transmitted by the BLE client 8. Upon receiving a scan response request 8, the BLE server 2 may respond with scan response data 9. This exchange may cause a longer advertising interval 7, but after the request is answered, the regular advertising interval 4 may resume.

Typically, a one-to-many (i.e., broadcast topology) communication approach would be used. Here the BLE enabled checkout device (e.g., BLE enabled barcode scanner) would broadcast (i.e., advertise) its status on a regular basis. Using this one-to-many communication approach allows the BLE server 2 to stay in a broadcasting mode, and many BLE clients 3 (e.g., smart phones) may receive the advertising data 6 information at once.

The advertising data packet may also convey position information to a receiving BLE device (e.g., smartphone). To accomplish this a receiving BLE device may be configured to measure the received signal strength of the transmitting BLE device's transmitted signal. This is especially important for augmented reality applications that need to imply spatially relevant messages on a real time viewfinder display.

The position of a smartphone within a checkout area may be calculated precisely by using the fixed positions of the checkout lane BLE modules. For example, a smartphone receiving checkout lane messages from each checkout lane may use the signal strength for each lane's BLE message to compute its position relative to the lanes. The more checkout lanes, the more accurately the position may be measured.

FIG. 2 shows a typical point of sale (i.e., checkout area). The checkout area 10 has multiple checkout lanes 14 that are typically identically equipped with a checkout system. Each lane's checkout system may be configured to generate a lane specific checkout lane message, which is regularly updated and transmitted using a BLE communication module integrated within the checkout system.

Exemplary checkout lane information is shown in FIG. 2. The exemplary checkout lane information 13 includes a status indicator 12 that is either “open” or “in-use” for all checkout lanes. In general, the status of the checkout lane may be (but is not limited to) open, closed, in-use, open & in-use, or open & idle. Any status that could help a user choose the checkout lane most likely to expedite the checkout process could be used as well.

The state of the checkout lane status may be derived from a scan rate. For example, a scan rate of zero for a time-period longer than a threshold could cause the status for a lane to be open or open & idle.

The state of the checkout lane status may be derived from an activity sensor as well. In a possible embodiment of the checkout system, the BLE module is part of a handheld barcode scanner. Activity sensors within the handheld barcode scanner could provide information regarding the checkout activity. For example, a trigger-switch sensor that indicates when the trigger of the handheld barcode scanner is pulled could indicate that a scanner (and therefor the checkout lane) is idle or active (i.e., in-use).

In another possible embodiment, the activity sensor could include an accelerometer used to measure the motion of the handheld scanner. A motionless handheld scanner (e.g., motionless for a time-period longer than a threshold) could indicate that a checkout lane is idle.

Handheld barcode scanners typically have a scanner base that is used to hold, power, and/or provide function to the scanner when the scanner is connected to the scanner base. Often a scanner is placed on the scanner base when it is not in use. As a result, an activity sensor may include a scanner base sensor to detect when a handheld barcode scanner has been placed on the scanner base. The lane status may be made closed or open & idle when the scanner base sensor indicates that the scanner is on the scanner base.

A scanner base for a handheld scanner may be configured to transmit the BLE messages. Unlike the handheld scanner, the scanner base is typically not designed to be mobile. As a result, generating accurate checkout lane messages may be made easier by using BLE enabled scanner bases. For example, the range between a mobile computing device (i.e., portable electronic device) and the BLE module may be easier if the BLE module is fixed and is not free to move about.

The checkout lane information also includes a quality rating 11. The quality rating for the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2 is a rating between one and four stars. Here, one star would indicate that the checkout lane is not likely to have a good efficiency (i.e., low throughput rate). This rating may be derived, in some possible embodiments, from a calculated scan rate. For example, an average scan rate, a running average of the scan rate, a lane-specific scan rate, a cashier-specific scan rate, or a projected scan rate are examples of possible algorithms that could be used to derive a checkout lane's quality rating.

FIG. 3 illustrates a portable electronic device 20 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The portable electronic device (e.g., smartphone) is configured with a graphical user interface (GUI) 21 (e.g., touch display, LCD, etc.) and a camera (e.g., CCD, CMOS, etc.). The GUI and the camera may be configured to function as a viewfinder. The viewfinder may be used to display (in real-time) the checkout area to a customer (i.e., user) 22. Software (e.g., an application) stored in the smartphone's memory (e.g., RAM, ROM, solid state drive, SD card, etc.) may configure the portable electronic device's processor (e.g., central processing unit (CPU), ARM processor, graphical processing unit (GPU), one or more controllers, digital signal processor (DSP), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), programmable gate array (PGA), and/or programmable logic controller (PLC)) to understand and display BLE messages broadcast from the checkout lanes. The resulting messages may be displayed on the device's display. In one possible embodiment, the information may be displayed in an augmented reality view on the GUI 21.

Augmented reality provides a real-time, portable-electronic-device-mediated view of the checkout area with a graphical overlay displaying checkout lane messages. For example, each checkout lane message is positioned over its corresponding checkout lane, as shown in FIG. 2. As a user changes the camera's position/direction (i.e., field of view), the view of the checkout lanes changes. As a result, different checkout lane messages may become visible (if a new lane becomes visible in the view) or may disappear (if a lane no longer appears in the view).

The portable electronic device is configured with a wireless interface for receiving BLE message. The wireless interface may operate in the unlicensed 2.4 GHz ISM (Industrial Scientific Medical) band and may generate and receive signals as defined by the BLUETOOTH® 4.0 specification (i.e., Core Specification 4.0, Jun. 30, 2010) which is incorporated herein by reference.

The portable electronic device is not limited to smartphones. In some embodiments, the portable electronic device may be (but is not limited to) a tablet, a laptop, smart glasses, a virtual reality headset or similar device that can provide a view of the checkout area with messages.

The present invention also embraces other means for conveying the checkout lane messages to a customer. For example, the checkout lane message could be a text listing of the checkout lanes and their status and ratings. Alternatively, the checkout lane messages may be presented to a customer audibly (e.g., “the best lane is lane 5”) through a speaker or headphone port integrated with the portable electronic device.

A method for broadcasting periodically updated checkout lane messages 30 is shown in FIG. 4. First, a time period during which a barcode scanner's activity will be recorded and processed is started 31. As the barcode scanner is used a computer (e.g. within the scanner or communicatively coupled to the scanner) records or tallies the scanner's activity (e.g., scan events) which may be stored in memory 32. From this data a checkout lane status (e.g., open & idle, open & in-use, or closed) may be derived 33. A checkout lane message is then created 34 using the checkout lane identifier (e.g., a BLE unique identifier tied to a lane number) and the checkout lane status and broadcast via BLE 35. This checkout lane status may be broadcast multiple times. At some point, a new time-period is started and the process repeats. For example, the scanner activity for the new time-period is recorded 32, the checkout lane status is updated 33, and a new checkout lane message is created 34 and broadcast 35. This process repeats indefinitely to give customers a real time status for each checkout lane.

A perspective view of a checkout system 40 for a checkout lane according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 5. The checkout system includes a barcode scanning module for scanning barcodes during the checkout process. The barcodes scanning module shown is a handheld barcode scanner 41. Other possible barcode scanners include (but are not limited to) handheld wireless scanners, laser scanners, imaging scanners, in-counter scanners, in-counter bi-optic scanners, and pen scanners.

The checkout system also includes a BLE module for transmitting BLE signals 42 to other BLE devices (e.g., smartphones). The BLE module is typically a small button-like device that may be housed in a discrete housing mounted externally on the checkout system. In other embodiments, it may be integrated within a module or subsystem. For example, the BLE module might be integrated with the barcode scanner or the barcode scanner base. Alternatively, it may be integrated with the point of sale computer. The BLE module is communicatively coupled (e.g., wired or wireless) to a processor. The module receives checkout lane messages from the processor and transmits checkout lane messages as BLE signals 42.

A block diagram of a checkout system 50 according to an embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIG. 6. The checkout system includes a barcode scanning module 53 that scans barcodes 52. The barcodes are typically affixed or printed on an item 51. The barcode scanning module is communicatively coupled to a processor 54 and a memory 55. Checkout lane messages are created and transmitted to a BLE module 56 that then broadcasts the BLE signal 57 to a BLE enabled device 58.

The checkout system 50 may also be communicatively coupled via an input/output (I/O) module 59 to a host system 60. The host system may be a computer connected to a network (i.e., the cloud). In this way, the checkout lane data could be collected by the host system 60 and shared to a network 61. This network may then communicate the checkout lane messages to a portable electronic device (e.g., smartphone) also connected to the network. This communication could use a wireless connection (e.g., WLAN, WAN) to communicate the checkout lane messages.

To supplement the present disclosure, this application incorporates entirely by reference the following commonly assigned patents, patent application publications, and patent applications:

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In the specification and/or figures, typical embodiments of the invention have been disclosed. The present invention is not limited to such exemplary embodiments. The use of the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. The figures are schematic representations and so are not necessarily drawn to scale. Unless otherwise noted, specific terms have been used in a generic and descriptive sense and not for purposes of limitation. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A portable electronic device comprising: a camera for gathering video images of an area, the area having multiple lanes; a graphical user interface (GUI) configured as a viewfinder to display the video images of the area in real-time; a wireless interface for receiving Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) messages from BLE devices located at each lane; and a processor, wherein the processor is configured by a software application to (i) process the BLE messages to obtain a lane message for each lane, and (ii) generate an augmented reality view on the GUI, the augmented reality view comprising the lane messages overlaid on the video images of the area.
 2. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a particular lane's lane message is positioned over the particular lane in the video images of the area.
 3. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device comprises a smartphone.
 4. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the portable electronic device comprises smart glasses.
 5. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the lane message for a particular lane comprises a quality rating for the particular lane.
 6. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the lane message for a particular lane comprises a real-time status for the particular lane, wherein the real-time status comprises the states: closed, in-use, and open.
 7. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the lane message for a particular lane comprises a lane position derived from a signal strength of the particular lane's BLE messages.
 8. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the BLE devices are barcode scanners.
 9. A method for broadcasting periodically updated lane messages, the method comprising the steps of: recording the activity of a Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) enabled barcode scanner for a time-period, the BLE enabled barcode scanner located at a lane; updating using the recorded activity a lane status; creating a lane message comprising (i) the lane identifier and (ii) the lane status; broadcasting using the BLE enabled barcode scanner the lane message; starting a new time-period; and repeating the above steps.
 10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the lane status comprises a lane throughput efficiency rating.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the lane status comprises an indication of whether the lane is (i) open and idle, (ii) open and in-use, or (iii) closed.
 12. A system, comprising: a barcode scanning module for scanning barcodes as part of a process; a Bluetooth-low-energy (BLE) module configured to repeatedly broadcast BLE messages to other BLE enabled devices; and a processor communicatively coupled to the barcode scanning module and the BLE module, the processor configured by software to: (i) receive signals from the barcode scanning module and/or activity sensors, (ii) create lane messages using the received signals, and (iii) transmit the lane messages to the BLE module for broadcasting as BLE messages.
 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein the lane messages comprise information to indicate if the lane is (i) closed, (ii) in-use, or (iii) open.
 14. The system according to claim 12, wherein the lane messages comprise an efficiency rating for the lane.
 15. The system according to claim 12, wherein the system is a handheld barcode scanner.
 16. The system according to claim 15, wherein the activity sensors comprise a trigger-switch sensor of the handheld barcode scanner.
 17. The system according to claim 15, wherein the activity sensors comprise a scanner-base sensor to indicate that the handheld barcode scanner is on a scanner base.
 18. The system according to claim 15, wherein the activity sensors comprise an accelerometer of the handheld barcode scanner.
 19. The system according to claim 12, wherein the received signals comprise a time between barcode scans.
 20. The system according to claim 12, wherein the BLE module comprises a scanner base. 